September 4, 2017

What's on TV? Thursday, September 12, 1957

Television was still making itself known throughout Minnesota in 1957, and so this week's issue features stations not only from the state, but from Iowa and Wisconsin as well. You had to be a little more regional back then; I remember in the days of living in The World's Worst Town™, we got our CBS programming from one of the KELOland stations in South Dakota, and accepted the news and weather from that part of the area as, if not your own, at least kind of like an adopted family.

Finding your favorite shows is a little more complicated here than you might think; a note at the top of the page reminds us that all times listed are Central Daylight; for Standard Time subtract one hour. Unless my Minnesota history fails me, Daylight Savings Time - or "Fast Time," as it was known, was limited to Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the counties that contain Minneapolis and St. Paul, and plus the city of Duluth, while the rest of the state was on Standard Time. The state wasn't standardized until later; don't ask me what it was like in Iowa and Wisconsin.

3KGLO (MASON
CITY, IA) (CBS)

MORNING

9:55

THIS I BELIEVE – Religion

10:00

CHRISTOPHERS – Religion

10:30

STRIKE IT RICH – Quiz

11:00

HOTEL COSMOPOLITAN

11:15

LOVE OF LIFE – Serial

11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial

11:45

GUIDING LIGHT – Serial

AFTERNOON

12:00

ACCENT – Joan Morris

12:25

NEWS – Walter Cronkite

12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS

1:00

MY LITTLE MARGIE – Comedy

1:30

MARKETS, WEATHER, NEWS

2:00

BIG PAYOFF – Quiz

2:30

VERDICT IS YOURS

3:00

BRIGHTER DAY – Serial

3:15

SECRET STORM – Serial

3:30

EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial

4:00

JIMMY DEAN – Music

4:45

INDUSTRY ON PARADE

5:00

BOB CAVANAUGH – Variety

EVENING

6:00

WILD BILL HICOCK – Western

6:30

YARD LIGHT – Heinz

6:45

NEWS – Doug Edwards

7:00

FARM REPORTER – Al Heinz

7:05

NEWS, WEATHER, MARKETS

7:30

ANNIE OAKLEY – Western

8:00

BOB CUMMINGS – Comedy

8:30

PLAYHOUSE 90 – Drama

10:00

CLIMAX! – Drama

11:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

11:30

MY HERO – Comedy

Here's an example of what I was talking about above. If you subtract one hour from these listings, you'll find that the 11:00 news was on at 10:00, bringing everying into alignment. Is that the way it was supposed to be? Don't know.

4 WCCO (CBS)

MORNING

7:00

JIMMY DEAN - Music

7:45

NEWS – Richard Hottelet

8:00

CAPTAIN KANGAROO – Kids

8:45

NEWS – Richard Hottelet

9:00

GARRY MOORE – Variety

9:30

ARTHUR GODFREY

10:30

STRIKE IT RICH – Quiz

11:00

HOTEL COSMOPOLITAN

11:15

LOVE OF LIFE – Serial

11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial

11:45

GUIDING LIGHT – Serial

AFTERNOON

12:00

NEWS, WEATHER

12:15

TAKE FIVE – Cedric Adams

12:20

WEATHER – Kraehling

12:30

AS THE WORLD TURNS

1:00

OUR MISS BROOKS – Comedy

1:30

HOUSE PARTY – Linkletter

2:00

BIG PAYOFF – Quiz

2:30

VERDICT IS YOURS

3:00

BRIGHTER DAY – Serial

3:15

SECRET STORM – Serial

3:30

EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial

4:00

AROUND THE TOWN – Haeberle

4:30

BUGS BUNNY – Comm. Cappy

4:55

WATCH THE BIRDIE – Quiz

5:00

AXEL AND DOG – Clellan Card

5:30

POPEYE CLUBHOUSE – Kids

5:55

WEATHER, NEWS, SPORTS

EVENING

6:15

NEWS – Doug Edwards

6:30

SGT. PRESTON – Adventure

7:00

BOB CUMMINGS – Comedy

7:30

CLIMAX! – Drama

8:30

PLAYHOUSE 90 – Drama

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:30

MOVIE – Musical Comedy

“Crazy House” (1943)

It's hard to imagine watching a music-variety show at 7:00 in the morning, isn't it? Let alone one by an outsized pesonality like Jimmy Dean.

5 KSTP (NBC)

MORNING

6:30

DAVID STONE – Variety

6:40

TELE-FARMER – Seils

7:00

TODAY – Garroway

9:00

ARLENE FRANCIS

Guests: Susan
Strasberg, Mrs. Lee Strasberg

9:30

TREASURE HUNT

10:00

PRICE IS RIGHT

10:30

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – Stunts

11:00

TIC TAC DOUGH

11:30

IT COULD BE YOU

AFTERNOON

12:00

NEWS, WEATHER

12:15

WEATHER – Johnny Morris

12:20

TREASURE CHEST - Quiz

1:00

CLUB 60 – Variety

COLOR

1:30

BRIDE & GROOM

2:00

MATINEE THEATER

COLOR

“Son of 37 Fathers”

3:00

QUEEN FOR A DAY

3:45

MODERN ROMANCES

4:00

I MARRIED JOAN

4:30

SUSIE – Comedy

5:00

SIDE SHOW – T.N. Tatters

5:30

WEATHER, SPORTS

5:45

NEWS – Huntley, Brinkley

EVENING

6:00

NEWS, WEATHER

6:20

YOU SHOULD KNOW – Quiz

6:30

TIC TAC DOUGH – Quiz

COLOR

7:00

GROUCHO MARX

7:30

DRAGNET – Jack Webb

8:00

PEOPLE’S CHOICE – Comedy

8:30

HIGH LOW – Quiz

9:00

LUX VIDEO THEATRE – Drama

COLOR

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:30

HIGHWAY PATROL – Police

11:00

TONIGHT – Jack Paar

Actress Susan Strasberg (the Home show with Arlene Francis, 9:00 a.m.) is the daughter of Mrs. Lee Strasberg, Paula Miller, who in addition to being married to Lee Strasberg was Marilyn Monroe's acting coach. (We won't hold that against her.) Lee was known as the father of the acting system known as "the Method"; Susan memorably described her mother once as a "combination delicatessen, pharmacist, Jewish mother".

6KMMT (AUSTIN)
(ABC)

AFTERNOON

2:00

MOVIE – Comedy

“My Dear Secretary”
(1948)

3:00

AMERICAN BANDSTAND

Guests: Nick Nobel
and the Tune Weavers

4:30

MOVIES – Double Feature

1. “Here Comes
Trouble” (1948) 2. “A Man’s Affairs”

5:50

SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER

EVENING

6:00

NEWS – John Daly

6:30

CHINA SMITH – Adventure

7:00

ABC PRESENTS – Documentary

7:30

MODERN AMERICANA

8:00

DANCE BILLBOARD

8:05

TUNES ON TRIAL – Music

8:30

INDUSTRIES FOR AMERICA

9:00

FILM FEATURE

9:30

UNCOVERED – Mystery

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:30

MOVIE – Mystery

“Return of a
Stranger” (1937)

Tunes on Trial was not, contrary to what you might think, hosted by Tipper Gore.

7KWWL
(WATERLOO, IA) (NBC, ABC)

MORNING

7:00

TODAY – Garroway

9:00

ARLENE FRANCIS

Guests: Susan
Strasberg, Mrs. Lee Strasberg

9:30

TREASURE HUNT

10:00

PRICE IS RIGHT

10:30

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – Stunts

11:00

TIC TAC DOUGH

11:30

IT COULD BE YOU

AFTERNOON

12:00

TEX AND JINX – Interviews

12:30

CLUB 60 – Variety

COLOR

1:30

BRIDE & GROOM

2:00

MATINEE THEATER

COLOR

“Son of 37 Fathers”

3:00

QUEEN FOR A DAY

3:45

MODERN ROMANCES

4:00

I MARRIED JOAN

EVENING

6:55

WEATHER, SPORTS, NEWS

7:15

NEWS – Huntley, Brinkley

7:30

TIC TAC DOUGH

8:00

ANNIE OAKLEY – Western

8:30

HIGH LOW – Quiz

9:00

LUX VIDEO THEATRE – Drama

COLOR

10:00

GROUCHO MARX - Quiz

10:30

DRAGNET – Jack Webb

11:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

11:30

INTERNATIONAL PLAYHOUSE

12:00

TONIGHT – Jack Paar

1:00

NEWS – Tom Miller

"Son of 37 Fathers," this afternoon's episode of Matinee Theater, is not, I swear, a porn film. It's actually the story of a young Korean boy who's adopted by 37 American troops and later becomes the prime suspect when a classified map goes missing from camp. Think Dondi, or maybe The Manchurian Candidate.

8WKBT (LA CROSSE, WI) (ALL NETWORKS)

MORNING

11:00

HOTEL COSMOPOLITAN

11:15

LOVE OF LIFE – Serial

11:30

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW – Serial

11:45

FILM SHORT

11:55

TROUBLE WITH FATHER

AFTERNOON

12:25

NEWS – Walter Cronkite

12:30

STRIKE IT RICH – Quiz

1:00

OUR MISS BROOKS – Comedy

1:30

HOUSE PARTY – Linkletter

2:00

BIG PAYOFF – Quiz

2:30

VERDICT IS YOURS

3:00

BRIGHTER DAY – Serial

3:15

SECRET STORM – Serial

3:30

EDGE OF NIGHT – Serial

4:00

MOVIE – To Be Announced

5:00

KIDDIES HOUR – Kids

5:30

FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE

EVENING

6:00

FARM DIGEST – Martin

6:05

SPORTS, NEWS, WEATHER

6:30

LONE RANGER – Western

7:00

WEB - Drama

7:30

CLIMAX! – Drama

8:30

DRAGNET – Jack Webb

9:00

GROUCHO MARX

9:30

STAGE 7 – Drama

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:20

THIS IS YOUR LIFE

Guest: Lou Costello

10:50

INNER SANCTUM -
Mystery

In all the years I've done this, I've never seen a station with the affiliate description "all networks." But it's brilliant - it's the only station providing coverage into the viewing area, and undoubtedly it can bill itself as providing the best programming from each of the networks. Kind of like an all-star network.

9 KMGM (IND.)

AFTERNOON

5:00

MOVIE – Drama

“Fury” (1936)

EVENING

6:30

MOVIE – Comedy

“Guardsman” (1931)

8:00

MR. AND MRS. NORTH – Mystery

8:30

SCIENCE FICTION THEATER

9:00

MOVIE – Mystery

“Hunt the Man Down”
(1951)

10:30

MOVIE – Drama

“Undercurrent”
(1946)

In years to come, KMGM will become KMSP, and will move from independent status to an ABC affiliate, and then turn indepenedent again before becoming part of the Fox network. When I compare their prime time lineup to that of WTCN's, I'm not that sure that they're not getting the better deal at this point in time.

10KROC (ROCHESTER) (NBC)

MORNING

7:00

TODAY – Garroway

9:00

ARLENE FRANCIS

Guests: Susan
Strasberg, Mrs. Lee Strasberg

9:30

TREASURE HUNT

10:00

PRICE IS RIGHT

10:30

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – Stunts

11:00

TIC TAC DOUGH

11:30

IT COULD BE YOU

AFTERNOON

12:00

NEWS, WEATHER

12:15

CHANNEL TEN CALLING

12:30

CLUB 60 – Variety

COLOR

1:30

BRIDE & GROOM

2:00

MATINEE THEATER

COLOR

“Son of 37 Fathers”

3:00

QUEEN FOR A DAY

3:45

MODERN ROMANCES

4:00

I MARRIED JOAN

4:30

FOREST FRONTIERS

5:00

MOVIE – Western

“Pioneers of the
West” (1940)

EVENING

6:00

NEWS, WEATHER

6:15

NEWS – Huntley, Brinkley

6:30

LOONEY TUNES – Cartoon

6:45

DUFFER’S DIGEST

7:00

GROUCHO MARX

7:30

DRAGNET – Jack Webb

8:00

FRONTIER DOCTOR

8:30

HIGH LOW – Quiz

9:00

LUX VIDEO THEATRE – Drama

COLOR

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:30

MOVIE – Drama

“Minesweeper” (1943)

The quiz show High Low is hosted by Jack Barry; it only runs for the Summer and doesn't even appear in his Wikipedia article. Of course, he's preoccupied with other things right now - it will be next year that the Quiz Show Scandals, in which he plays a significan role, will explode.

In all the years I've done this, I've never seen a station with the affiliate description "all networks." But it's brilliant - it's the only station providing coverage into the viewing area, and undoubtedly it can bill itself as providing the best programming from each of the networks. Kind of like an all-star network.

11 WTCN (ABC)

AFTERNOON

11:45

NEWS – Al Paulson

11:55

THIS IS THE STORY - Drama

EVENING

12:00

CASEY JONES – Rog Awsumb

12:30

ROMPER ROOM – Miss Phyllis

1:00

MOVIE – Historical Drama

“Elizabeth the Queen”
(1939)

2:50

NEWS – Bob West

3:00

AMERICAN BANDSTAND

Guests: Nick Nobel
and the Tune Weavers

4:30

CARTOON CARNIVAL – Kids

5:00

MICKEY MOUSE CLUB – Kids

EVENING

6:00

NEWS, WEATHER

6:15

NEWS – John Daly

6:30

LONE RANGER – Western

7:00

ABC PRESENTS – Documentary

7:30

MODERN AMERICANA

8:00

MOVIE – War Drama

“Flying Tigers”
(1942)

9:30

DICK POWELL – Drama

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:15

MOVIE – Drama

“Hell’s Kitchen”
(1939)

You recall how I said that Channel 9 had the better of the deal with Channel 11 - well, if you look at what ABC's prime time schedule actually was at the time, you'll see that WTCN has almost none of it on right now, except for John Daly's news and The Lone Ranger. Was it because it was Summer? Possibly; the shows don't appear on KMMT, the area's other full-time ABC affiliate, either. Of course, local stations didn't always run to associate themselves with ABC back then.

13 WEAU (EAU
CLAIRE) (NBC, ABC)

MORNING

7:00

TODAY – Garroway

9:00

ARLENE FRANCIS

Guests: Susan
Strasberg, Mrs. Lee Strasberg

9:30

TREASURE HUNT

10:00

PRICE IS RIGHT

10:30

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – Stunts

11:00

TIC TAC DOUGH

11:30

IT COULD BE YOU

AFTERNOON

12:00

OPERATION SUCCESS

12:30

CLUB 60 – Variety

COLOR

1:30

BRIDE & GROOM

2:00

MATINEE THEATER

COLOR

“Son of 37 Fathers”

3:00

QUEEN FOR A DAY

3:45

MODERN ROMANCES

4:00

I MARRIED JOAN

4:30

CARTOONS – Kids

4:55

SHERIFF BOB – Kids

5:30

FILM FEATURE

EVENING

6:00

LONE RANGER – Western

6:30

FILM SHORT

6:45

WEATHER, NEWS

7:00

GROUCHO MARX

7:30

DRAGNET – Jack Webb

8:00

SCHLITZ PLAYHOUSE - Drama

8:30

HIGH LOW – Quiz

9:00

LUX VIDEO THEATRE – Drama

COLOR

10:00

NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS

10:30

SPORTS HORIZONS

10:45

LAWRENCE WELK - Music

I like these brief descriptions that accompany the shows here; it's one reason I switched over to this method. You know: Lawrene Welk - Music. Schlitz Playhouse - Drama. Dragnet - Jack Webb. Not "Police," not "Drama." "Jack Webb." As my wife commented, what else is there to say?

3 comments:

Before KHAS in Hastings, Nebraska went on the air as an NBC affiliate in January 1956, KHOL (now KHGI) in Kearney had all three networks briefly. From 1953-61, it was an ABC and CBS station. When KOLN in Lincoln started its satellite station, KGIN Grand Island in 1961, KHOL became an ABC-only affiliate. KHOL/KHGI is still an ABC affiliate today.

WWNY-TV in Watertown, NY was a "triple affiliate" from its inception (as WCNY) in 1954 until 1985. They always functioned as a CBS primary however, carrying most of the daytime schedule and the full prime time. The wiki page indicates that they also had DuMont in the first years, so they truly were "all networks".

There were several multi-network stations in the 90's as well. Cities (often UHF island ones) with only 'the big 3', PBS and eventually FOX, would typically double (or even triple) up with WB and UPN before they merged.